STATE AGENCY COLLABORATION ON EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION/TRANSITION FROM PRESCHOOL TO KINDERGARTEN
SECTION 12B.5.(a) The Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction and any other agencies or organizations that administer, support, or study early education in this State, and within resources currently available, shall collaborate on an ongoing basis to develop and implement a statewide vision for early childhood education. In collaborating in this effort, the agencies shall develop a comprehensive approach to early childhood education, birth through third grade, including creating cross agency accountability with a comprehensive set of data indicators, including consideration of the NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading, to monitor and measure success of the early childhood education systems.
SECTION 12B.5.(b) The Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Instruction, and any other agencies or organizations that administer, support, or study early education programs in this State shall report their findings and recommendations, including any legislative proposals, resulting from the initiative to develop and implement a statewide vision for early childhood education pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. The agencies shall make an initial report to Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on or before January 1, 2017, submit a follow up report to those same committees on or before January 1, 2018, and may make any subsequent reports, annually, on or before January 1, as needed to those same committees.
SECTION 12B.5.(c) The Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, shall promote the successful transition of children who receive assistance from NC Pre-K program and the Child Care Subsidy Assistance program for four- and five-star rated facility classrooms to kindergarten. In its promotion of a successful transition from preschool to kindergarten, the Department of Health and Human Services shall recommend that both NC Pre-K teachers and preschool teachers prepare a preschool to kindergarten transition plan for each child transitioning to kindergarten that documents the child's strengths and needs based on the five Goals and Developmental Indicator domains for children'sdevelopmental and learning progress that are based on the NC Foundations for Early Learning andDevelopment. The preparation of the transition plan shall only apply to children who receive assistance through the NC Pre-K program or the Child Care Subsidy Assistance program. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Departments utilize this transition plan until such time as the standardized program to transition children from preschool to kindergarten, required pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, is developed and implemented.
SECTION 12B.5.(d) The Department of Health and Human Services shall report on the implementation of the transition plan required pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, including any findings and recommendations and any legislative proposals, to the Joint LegislativeOversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on or before December 15, 2016.
SECTION 12B.5.(e) The Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, shall develop and implement a standardized program to transition children from preschool to kindergarten. In developing this standardized transition program, the Department of Health and Human Services shall identify, at a minimum:
(1)Methods to standardize student transition information such that it is quantifiable.
(2)Recommendations for sharing data contained in a student's transition plan between preschool teachers and either kindergarten teachers or the schools that receive the incoming kindergarten students.
(3)Recommendations for sharing data contained in a student's transition plan between preschool teachers and the parents or guardians of the child who is transitioning to kindergarten.
(4)Recommendations for preschool teacher training and continuing education to support their role in completing transition plans for preschool children.
(5)Recommendations for baseline information that should be compiled in transition plans for students transitioning to kindergarten.
(6)Procedures for the management of transition plan documents, including recommendations for the length of records retention, provisions for confidentiality, and proper disposal.
(7)Any other components the Department deems appropriate in the provision of information between preschools, students' families, and kindergartens.
SECTION 12B.5.(f) The Department of Health and Human Services shall report on the development of the standardized transition program required pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, including any findings and recommendations and any legislative proposals, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on or before January 1, 2018.